Saltus Grammar School - Yearbook (Hamilton, Bermuda)

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6 SCHOOL NOTES. At the beginning of this year we welcomed a new member of our staff, Mr. E. R. Ilott. He immediately started to reorganise the library, and his efforts have had such success that now it is a place where large numbers of boys go regularly after lunch to read books, whereas formerly it was often us ' ed merely as an excuse to avoid the necessity of going down onto the field. In this achievement Mr. Ilott was very materially assisted by the presentation of a quantity of books by Mr. Edmund Gibbons. Mr. Ilott is also a great hitter; he can hit a golf ball further, we believe, than anyone else in Bermuda (he won the Belmont Manor Golf Tournament), his efforts ' with a cricket ball in the Staff Match aroused the admiration of every boy in the School (his unflagging interest in cricket has been largely responsible for the improvement in the batting of the First XI), and, in the Christ- mas term, the most numerous first form on record was ' the best be- haved in the school (verb, sap.) We offer our congratulations to Leseur I. for winning the Cra- dock Scholarship. We wish him the best of luck when he goes to England in the autumn. He also distinguished himself by coming first in the Long Jump for the B. A. A. against the Navy with a jump of 19ft. 8 1 3 . For the second time in succession there were no failures in the Cambridge Locals among our candidates. Benevides, Crawford, Motyer I, and Thompson were saiccessful in the senior examinations, and Campbell in the junior. The School was well represented, too, in the examinations held here by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. Anfossi, Butterfield )I, Butterfield II, Hallett and Smith III, were all successful in their various groups. Talking of music, the Choir gave the usual Carol Services at Christmas and Easter, and last month they sang Stanford ' s cantata, Phaudrig Crohoore, to an appreciative audience. Mr, Norman Parker- was at the piano, and Mr. Bridge conducted. V On the 22nd. of April we were again privileged to hear the mass- ed bands of the Royal Marines beat the Retreat on the field. It is ' always an impressive ceremony and one that attracts a large atten- dance.

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EDITORIAL. Last year we launched on our local world the first issue of the Saltus Year Book. In an effort to maintain the interest of the Old Boys in the life of the School, we rejected a great deal of matter which appealed only to the contributors themselves or to their immediate families, and tried to make the Year Book present a fair picture of our activities and achievements. The Old Boys responded nobly and a large numher of copies was sold. In fact, the entire edition was 80ld out. At the same time, however, we appealed to the School for articles descriptive of our life here, written expressly for the Year Book, to replace those samples of work done in the ordinary course of the school curriculum which we had decided to reject. We regret that the response in this direction hast not been forthcoming. There are, natur- ally, any number of reasons for this; in particular, this school year has suffered more from interruptions, in the way of sickness and Gtherwis ' e, than for some years previously, and, consequently, there has been less time for a labour of love than usual. But we would ' urge on the present members of the School that it is not enough merely to arouse the interest of the Old Boys, but that an interest in its own activities is ' a good thing in any institution, and that others are the more likely to show the continued interest which we so desire, if we are articulate about ourselves. Do not, then, wait until a month or so before the date of publica- tion, but let the spirit move you to put pen to paper at any time dur- ing the year when there is the least excuse for it; a spontaneous ' in- spiration is much more valuable, and has much more interest for others, than a composition over which you have had to cudgel your brains, or burn the midnight oil.

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7 In January the School held an art exhibition. The entries were judged by Mrs. Charles Bleecker, Miss Grace Tucker and Mr. Here- ward Watlington. The prizes were donated by Mr. Watlington and presented by Mrs . Bleecker. There were over sixty entries, many of them showing very considerable merit. In the general wave of innovation and improvement which we are experiencing now the P. T. has not been forgotten. L Serg. King of the K. S. L. I. has been coming down from Prospect with the very latest in physical jerks. He has added interest and variety to an other- v ise rather monotonous ritual, and, although the s ' pectators who are off games and P. T, have sometimes wondered whether it is not some new form of folk dancing, the new P. T. has proved stimulating, as well as profitable, to those who indulge in it. During the holidays las ' t summer the Science Room was provided with a new set of benches, all properly fitted with gas and water pipes and sinks. It is now possible for a form to do practical chemistry and carry out experiments for itself, ins ' tead of merely watching a demon- stration. Another result is that the rest of the School, even those with the least sensitive sense of smell, can easily tell when a practical chemistry period is in progress. On March 31st., by the courtesy of the West India Oil Co., a party of thos ' e who professed to be keen scientists escaped the last period of afternoon E ' chool to visit the Oil Dock. Our guide, Mr. A.. S. Kohler conducted us everywhere and showed us the whole works, and answered all the questions, intelligent and otherwise, that were rained upon him. The greatest interest was shown in the elec- tric welding of one of the new tanks. Two of the party were allowed to try their hand at welding one of the seams, but one, at least, of them was so startled when the sparks began to fly, that he found it quite imposeible to make any progress. We spent an enjoyable and instructive afternoon (come of us learnt for the first time that fuel oil and Diesel oil are not the same things), and we were very grateful to all concerned. For, we believe the first time in living memory the School was closed on account of an epidemic during February. A wave of in- fluenza attacked juniors and seniors alike, and, when less than half the boys arrived one morning, it was decided to close for three days so as to prevent the plague going any further.